Гладиатор

           "Ithinkhe’lllivethroughthisfight,youthinkhe’lldie,"hesaid."Let’sputmoneyontheresult-athousand?"

           "Againstmyownman?Idon’tdothat,"saidProximo.

           "AndifImakeitfivethousand?"

           Proximothoughtaboutit.Thatwasalotofmoney.

           ***

           Proximolikedtoseehisnewboysbeforetheywenttofight.Aguardcalledforsilenceashewalkedintothewaitingarea.

           "Someofyouarethinkingthatyouwon’tfight,"Proximosaid,"andsomethatyoucan’tfight.Theyallsaythatuntilthey’reoutthere."Hepulledasworddownfromashelf."Pushthisintoanothermanandthecrowdwillcheerandloveyou.Youmayevenbegintolovethemback."Hestuckthepointoftheswordinatable."Intheend,wearealldeadmen.Sadly,wecannotchoosehow.Butwecandecidehowweacceptthatend,sowearerememberedasmen.Yougooutintothearenaasslaves.Youcomeback-ifyoucomeback-asgladiators."

           Outside,thecrowdwasgettingimpatient.Beforeheleft,Proximowalkeddownthelineofmen,sayingwhomustbechainedtogether.Theywereallputinteamsoftwo-anditsoonbecameclearthatthemethodwastochaina"Redtoa"Yellow."Eachgoodfighterwaswithacertainloser.

           HakenwaschainedtothecryingGreeksecretary.Maximus-a"loser"becausehehadrefusedtofightHaken-waschainedtoJuba.

           Maximusturnedtolookatthecloseddoor.Fromtheothersidetheycouldheartheshoutsofthecrowd.Suddenly,Maximusbentdownandpickedupalittlesandfromtheground,thenletitfallthroughhisfingers.